Kelly Louise Judd Books

This beautiful poetry anthology that includes a new nature poem for every month of the year is perfectly pitched for young readers to explore the power of nature through Coelho’s highly accessible verses.

The collection of 12 poems contains a mix of types of poetry, each one exploring the poet’s own experiences and interactions with a different aspect of nature associated with its linked month. February’s poem, for example, explores the simple joys of spotting frogspawn in a pond tempered with concerns about their decline (“We’d watch the full stop grow/on an unwritten sentence,/ would our hopes hop?”). March’s list poem celebrates the diversity of daffodil types while August’s poem explores the memorable experiences of scrumping for fruit with friends. December’s poem, meanwhile, reflects on the way in which unique snowflakes come together to form an all-consuming blanket of snow.

The book is structured into monthly sections and the poems accompanied by beautiful illustrations that celebrate the beauty of the natural world and changing seasons.

The poems are beautifully illustrated by Kelly Louise Judd, with colours and patterns drawn out to reflect each poem’s seasonal imagery. For teachers, finding a place for this book on your desk will provide a quick and easy way of inspiring pupils with a taste of poetry each month as well as an opportunity to grapple with the rich vocabulary and layers of meaning packed into each poem. I would recommend the collection across the whole primary age range.